Hidey-HIde
by Ironhide's Daughter
Summary: Annabelle has Ironhide wrapped around her finger.
1. Chapter 1

**This is the first movie-verse story I have written. This is a one-shot collation of Annabelle and Ironhide. This is probably fairly well known, but bold and italics are comm. links.**

"That should do it, Ironhide. Just be careful of the new weld, it might break open if you are not carful of it. Now, shoo!"

The lime-green medic shooed the bulky black Autobot out the door with a wrench that might just fall out on a swing towards the weapon specialist and _accidently_ hit him if he did not speed it up.

This, as he checked the clock on the opposite wall, was no problem.

"Scrap! I'm late for Annabelle's bus to arrive!" the big black truck roared out of the base with bits of armor still clinking into place.

"Ironhide!" Ratchet hollered angrily, "I said 'Be careful!"

Prime smiled at his old friend, "Has Ironhide ever been careful?"

"No—PRIME!" the medic looked at him with a raised wrench, "At least he tells me when he gets hurt! How long have you had that?"

"What?" the leader was a bit taken aback; he was not injured in any way.

"The green oozing gash on your right shoulder!"

Ironhide smirked as he heard Ratchet go off on a rant about how no one ever takes care of themselves and they think he can fix things with a simple weld when they require surgery, and how Prime is supposed to lead when he's gone up and died from a little cut that got infected.

He arrived just as the kindergartener got off of her bus and was looking around wildly for her friend that was a just big black truck to everyone else. "Hidey-Hide?" she called.

"I'm right here, I just had to go to the base for a moment and couldn't leave right away." The truck purred as the child climbed inside him to go back to the base, _**"Please do not inform her of my incident, such news will aggravate her."**_

"_**Understood, 'Hide, we all know the effects of injuries can be taken badly by sparklings."**_

"_**Thank you, Mirage."**_

"_**And another thing, don't go near the med. Bay, Ratch has got Prime pretty loud about some injury."**_

"_**Understood, thank you again."**_

The child watched the world roll by as Ironhide played her favorite song, from her favorite CD, for the thousandth time this week, and the hundredth time that day, but he never tired of it because it made her happy. Even though she did not always verbalize it, Ironhide could smell it, and that made his day.

"How was school, Sweet pea?"

"Good, we had to take naps, but I didn't take one!" the five year-old child sang.

"Oh" the bot chuckled.

"Yeah, I went outside and climbed tree!" she wiggled in his seat and yawned.

"Oh?" But Ironhide's question fell on sleeping ears. He looked at the sparkling inside his cab, and felt this overwhelming protective emotion, just like, just like—no! Not now! Not now! But his processor would not listen to him.

_There was a tiny sparkling in his hand, Chromia stumbled to look over his shoulder and the big black Autobot supported his wife and guided them to their room. Before going into recharge he looked at his family and had that feeling._

_Two weeks later, while he was on tour, Deceptions attacked the base._

_There were no survivors._

The raven-haired holoform looked at his protectee, _I swear, Chromia, I will always protect her, and I promise you I will protect her, I will not fail, and I cannot fail._

Then he was at the base.

"Hide-Hide, where are we going?" a tired voice asked.

"To the base, darling." Ironhide's gentle voice replied softly.

"But we don't come in this way."

"No, dear, I just thought it would be good to go this way."

"Ok, Hidey." She sat up and peered over his hood as he stopped.

"Hidey? Why is no one here?" she asked as she hopped up and her guardian transformed.

"They are busy." He replied, hoping she would not press further; he could not lie to her.

"Hide!" she gasped, her eyes fixed on his left arm.

This caused the giant robot to lean down, "What's wrong? Are you okay?"

"Hidey has boo-boo!" she began digging around her backpack for something, her golden curls getting in the way of her face.

_Primus! Humans are confusing! What in the pit is a boo-boo?_

She emptied her bag on the floor, crayns and markers rolled everywhere and a box that filled up most of her book bag fell out. She opened the box, "Hidey-Hide closer!" she demanded.

The tough mech leaned closer to the ground, but the sparkling demanded he come closer.

Then she squirted some goop on his arm from a tube that was like a mini toothpaste thing and stuck something to it.

"Hidey-Hide has lots of boo-boos!" She gasped, "Ratchet said that Hide get's boo-boos and they turn silver." She said as she practically coated his arm with the goop, which read "Neosporin", and promptly covered it with stickers, called "Band-Aid". Most of the stickers were pink and bore strange humans and patterns, the fact that they were pink and _on him_ was enough to make him purge, needless to say the very thought of one of the others seeing him made his armor heat up slightly and caused him to shudder.

"Did I hurt you? Let me give you a kiss to make it better!" she leapt up, seeming to only be trying to scare the daylights out of him, and planted a wet kiss on his chin, which made the big, tough, unbreakable Ironhide melt like an ice cream cone on a hot, humid summer day.

She continued to plaster him with the goop and stickers, for her guardian could not stop her without the risk of doing her harm.

By this time quite the group of bots and soldiers had gathered in the large doorway, and quite the many pictures had been taken.

"I never thought I'd see that old rust-bucket with a human child." Wheeljack whispered to the father of the little girl.

"Rust-bucket? Try puddle." Ratchet hissed with a chuckle, "Though he is not as bad as Prime when it comes to that."

Will looked up at his comrades, "Well I never thought I'd see The Puddle covered in Princess Band-Aids!"

"There you go, Hidey-Hide!" the girl clapped her hands.

"You are an excellent nurse, Miss. Annabelle Lenox." The big black bot had finally figured out that "Boo-Boo" meant the same as "Owie".

"I love you Hidey-Hide!" she threw her arms around his big neck.

"I love you too, Annie!" her guardian gently cradled her to his chest as the others scattered, not wanting to anger their tough old friend.

,,,,

It was a few weeks later when Will was proudly showing around his photo album, Ironhide meandered over to the crowd of purring bots.

"That kid's mine." He smiled.

"No, Hide, you are completely hers." Arcee giggled as Will Lenox turned the page and there, front and center, was Ironhide, covered with princess pink band aids and receiving a kiss from a little girl. On the page across from that, were plenty of other rather embarrassing pictures of Belle smearing and bandageing him. And at the end of the page was a picture of him hugging little Annie.

"How did you—?" the big black bot squeaked.

"You were very preoccupied, and we couldn't resist not taking pictures." A smile played on Optimus Prime's lips, and Ironhide groaned deeply.

"Hidey-Hide!" a tiny voice called, Ironhide's perked up and began to glow with delight.

"Hidey-Hide play hide seek!" She ran to his feet, Optimus Prime took out his camera.

"Alright. Onetwothreefour—" he covered his optics

"No, Hidey-Hide, to fast!"

"Alright. One…. Two…. Three…. Four…"

"No, Hidey-Hide, too slow!" the girl giggled.

"Alright. One, Two, Three, Four, Five, Six, Seven, Eight, Nine… Ten!" The big Autobot had already located her by her giggling, but he searched anyways.

"Hmmn, she ain't by Optimus," He picked his leader up by the underarms, a thing Optimus hated to have done to him, "She ain't under him either…."

A silvery giggle filled the base.


	2. Chapter 2

**Ok, so I scratched the short story collection idea… kind of. I am sorry that this chapter is a bit dark, and the story will get a bit dark at times, hence I am moving the rating up a wee bit. Please review!**

"Hidey-Hide, I had nightmare!" a slurred sleepy voice came from his driver's side door as a little hand tried to open it.

"Stand back, sweetpea, I am gonna transform."

"Ok." The little girl stumbled back, being caught by a big black hand just before she fell.

Ironhide scooped her up and cradled her to his spark, "What was the nightmare about?"

"There were 'Cons chasing me."

"Ah, do you remember what happened last happened?"

The girl in the pink Tinker Bell nightgown nodded, her tangled golden curls bouncing up and down.

"Well, close your eyes and go back to that part in the dream. Then imagine yourself as a Cybertronian. Now you have cannons, and weapons to use against them. And imagine me at your side, cause I'm angry that the 'Cons threatened you in your sleep."

He looked down at the now fast asleep child in his palm, and then he laid down and went into recharge himself.

'''''

"Hidey-Hide, wake up!" a tiny voice commanded.

"Morning Annie!" The black Autobot smiled, four in the morning was not too bad, seeing as he fell into recharge at about two.

"It's not morning, Hidey-Hide, you had a bad dream. You were crying and saying 'Chromia' and 'the little one' a lot." She hugged him, her blue princess nightgown was soaked in optic fluids. "Why were you crying, Hidey-Hide? What was the dream 'bout?"

_Well, now what? _He could not keep his secret from her now, and the rest of the family had caught him in a dream or two and knew about it.

"Annie, a long time ago I had a wife, and a little sparkling, he'd be about your age now, named Fireflight. One day, when I was on a mission far away, the base was attacked by 'Cons, and there were no survivors, at least they did not find any. My wife and child are still missing."

"Oh, Hidey-Hide!" she threw her arms around his neck, a tear sliding down her cheek, "I'm sorry!"

"It's alright, darling, it happened a long time ago. And now I have a family again."

"Who?" the girl asked innocently.

"Well, Optimus, and Ratchet, and Sideswipe, and the Twins, and Bee, and Sam, and Sam's parents, and you and your mommy and daddy. But don't tell them I said that, especially the Twins and Bee, they would never let me live it down."

The girl smiled, "Do you think you other family is still out there?"

"Alive?" the bot asked.

"Yes, do you think they may have escaped and are looking for you? Is that why you always seem to be canning every 'cal you see?"

It took Ironhide no time to figure out that "canning" meant "Scanning" and "'cal" meant "Vehicle", as he knew the nature of the child's speech sometimes better then he knew his own. _Man alive, she's smart, knows people's processors like the back of her servo! Knows me better than I know myself!_ "Yes, sweetpea, I do still look for them."

"Hidey-Hide, close your eyes." She waited for him to obey, "'Magine where you left off in that dream, then 'magine sometime near now, and Chromia and Fireflight are there, and me too, cause I want to meet them."

A tear rolled down the black mech's silver cheek.


	3. Chapter 3

**Wow, this thing's going better than I expected! Thank you guys! Another thing, please pay attention to tiny details, in my stories they have the tendency to blossom and I wish not to confuse ya'll! This chapter is rather long. This is also a nod to my own past of not fitting into the cookie cutter at school, funny, they say be creative and then tell you your creativity is too creative. I was so far out of the cookie cutter that they wanted to put me on drugs, another thing I think is very wrong; as I will rant in the story, I won't do it here (Annie is based off me as a kid). Heh, I was so "bad" they wouldn't take me back the next year. But, that lead me to meet "Dot". Please review, I love hearing from you folks!Ok, I am a dork, sorry for deleting this, here it is again!**

"Hidey-Hide! Hidey-Hide!" A tiny voice called proudly, "Look what I made in tart class!"

"Oh?" the big black Autobot transformed and leaned toward the child.

"I drew our family!" she proudly held up a piece of paper that had been rolled up far too long and was almost as big as she was. "See, there's Jesus, and mom and dad, and you, and Optimus, and Mudflap, and Skids, and Sideswipe and Ratchet, and Bee, and Sam!"

Ironhide felt pride swell in his spark as he watched her point to each boxy blobby painted image in sequence, "You should show this to the others!" he smiled.

"You really like it?"

"Of course I do, Sweetpea! Why would you ask such a question?"

"My tart teacher didn't seem to, she wrote me 'nother note to take home." A tear began to form, "Why don't they like me, Hidey-Hide!?"

"Who don't like you?" the Autobot growled,_ how could anyone not like a kid like my Annie? Sure, she messes up, but…_

"Well, the teachers always compliment all the other kids, but they only write me a note, or take away my notebooks. Sometimes they throw away my poems, but I get them when they ain't lookin', and they correct my talkin'! 'Cept Dot, she tells me that I'm a good kid, and to be myself, even though everybody else don't want me to be, she likes my talkin' and steals back my notebooks. Well, she used to, they made her go away."

_Will is gonna have a talking too, I hope he already knows the bit about poems and notebooks. I sure didn't!_ Ironhide thought as he gently wiped away the tears streaking down her face and cradled her to his chest, trying to figure out what to say, "Listen here, Sweetpea, anybody that don't have the brains to like ya as ya don't have half the brains of a Dinobot!"

"You think so?" she cuddled into him and sniffed.

"Do ya have ta ask?" he purred, "Let's go show the others!"

"Will?" Ironhide whispered to the soldier as her walked by.

"Hidey-Hide?" Will smirked, and watched the Autobot grimace, but not say anything like he normally would.

"Can you go on a drive with me?"

Will blinked, Ironhide had asked to go for drives before, they seemed to make him feel safer or something, but he had never heard the big Autobot sound so – weak, "Yeah, Annie's in bed fast asleep."

In seconds the bot was a truck, trying his best not to make too much sound as he transformed and opened the door.

"Ironhide, why do you always go for a drive when you want to talk?"

"Well, I –I feel more comfortable, more equipped to open up I guess," Will could feel the vehicle heat up in the Cybertronian form of blushing, "I have noted that you have the same emotions."

Will nodded, "So why do you want to talk?"

"About Annie." The big black bot said, veering off into his favorite side road to take when something worried him.

"Oh?" Will was often amazed at the similarities between Humans and Cybertronians, one of which was occurring now. Ironhide, like most humans, had sub-conscious habits, especially when determining roads to take. There was a very scenic, bouncy dirt road he would turn onto if he was happy, and one that he turned on when he was not that was shorter, paved, and curvy. Then there was the one he took when he was worried, it was long, and had the most lovely cliffs, and the darkest forests, it also had a multitude of hills and rivers and curves. It was also far safer than any of the others.

"So, Hide, what worries you today?" the human probed again.

The truck jumped a bit, "I have given ya no sign of my emotions yet!"

"You take this road when you're worried, Ironhide."

"Well, I guess I do. Annie came up ta me today, with that picture. She said some things that concern me greatly."

"Go on, Ironhide, she won't talk to us about anything. I caught her trying to read the notes her teachers gave her, she would look up what she didn't know in a thesaurus, the one you gave her for Christmas." Will's face furrowed, "but she tucks them in the thesaurus, and we decided to let them alone, they'd call if it was that bad."

"She left them here, so ya could read them. I asked if it was alright."

Will reached into the center consul and pulled out a book filled with notes from the child's teacher.

_Dear Mr. and Mrs. Lennox,_

_Your daughter is very special, but she does not do well with the other students. She is very distracted during read aloud time. Please talk to her about this._

_Dear Mr. and Mrs. Lennox,_

_We love your daughter, but her art work is not like the other children's. There are rules that are in place, your daughter refuses to comply to them. For example, she copies poems from sources that I know not, but they cannot be hers during her nap time._

_Dear Mr. and Mrs. Lennox,_

_Talk to your daughter about playing with Harvestmen spiders, climbing trees, and running around the playground like a little heathen, please tell her how ladies are supposed to act._

_Dear Mr. and Mrs. Lennox,_

_Your daughter has an overactive imagination. She writes horrific stories about adventures with giant robots, the ones she draws all the time. It is highly concerning. I also question their origins, for her vocabulary is far too wide._

_Dear Mr. and Mrs. Lennox,_

_Your child is cheating on tests, she is getting scores that the other children do not, so she must have gotten into our notes or something and written them down._

Anger grew in Will's heart as he read at least thirty different notes that all said the same thing; that his child was not fitting into their little cookie-cutter, and none of them had signatures, save for the last two.

_Dear Will, Sarah, Ironhide, Optimus, Bee, Ratchet, Sideswipe, Skids, Mudflap and Sam,_

_Annabelle is a wonderful child. I am not certain if the Autobots, or the 'Cons are real, but to Annie they are, and she, although magnificently creative, is too intelligent to tell those kinds of stories, and she keeps a picture of you all in her locket, at least that is what I believe I can see when she looks at it._

_She must get those poems published, and those stories, she can publish them as sci-fi and they would be loved._

_She talks perfectly, and that's that, and she talks even better with a pen. She is much farther along than her classmates, and the other teachers don't like that too much. Well, I will say something because I am a real person. the others can't see true beauty when it, as the darling Ironhide often says, gives them a blaster to the face!_

_She always had that thesaurus you gave her, Ironhide, it is rather adorable how she treasures it and when she is reading she looks up words she doesn't know or asks me about them._

_And all the things that you, Optimus, have taught her about being good to people, and about the natural world, or you, Ratchet about medicine for both humans and Cybertronians (apologies if that is misspelled) and you, Bee, about listening before you speak, and making the words you have count, and the entire Autobot cause of freedom, and all the things that are good in this world, all of those things that all of you have taught her have created a wonderful person, and as Ratchet often says, I will throw whoever thinks they can hurt her to the pit. I know I am not at all being like I ought, but I have reason._

_I have watched things for a long while, and it appears the many of the folks in these kinds teaching positions here are here for all the wrong reasons. There are a great amount of Church-folk that are here for the right reasons, I pray I am one of them._

_The other teachers wish to put her on medicine. I implore you not to let that happen, as it would destroy her very being._

_I wish to meet all of you very soon, but the board wills to fire me next week, and if they do, I shall leave peacefully. Your daughter will do best if she is homeschooled. _

_With great affections to the whole lot of you,_

_Dot Verdunpol_

The other one stated that his daughter "simply must be on medicine to get her under control." And was signed by all of the teachers, except for Dot.

Dot had been fired a week after that message was sent.

"Wow." The truck finally said, "I like Dot. I dislike everybody else, but I like Dot."

"Me too." Will replied, "Do you know what her peoms and stories were about?"

"The poems were all about nature, life, and how she felt despised by her peers. The stories were the ones we told her about Cybertron, and our adventures together, and there was one about Chro – my family before ya'll, and how they came and there was a big party."

"Well, she will have to finish the year, there's only a wee bit to go and we can't just switch her now." Will let out a long sigh.

"How would a medicine control her?" Ironhide asked.

"It would change her mindset, and change her."

"What do ya think, Will?"

"Hide, she can't fail kindergarten." Will replied.

Silence filled the empty space.

"Optimus?"

The Prime looked up, he knew that tone. Ironhide was hurt or very worried or needed to vent. Judging by the timid manner in which his old friend peeked through the door he was a mix of all three.

"Ironhide? You know you can storm my office and I wouldn't care."

"Yeah. But I don't want ta disturb you."

"No worry there, I was just looking at old photos." The red and blue Autobot motioned to a giant photo album that was turned to a picture of a pregnant, pink and white Autobot with her mouth open as if protesting the picture being taken, but there was a bright happy gleam in her blue eyes.

"Elita." Ironhide gave his friend a quick hug.

"You came in to talk about something." Optimus said after a long pause.

"Annie."

"Okay." Optimus pulled up a giant chair for his friend to sit down in, the bot stubbornly remained standing. Optimus then jerked his arm and swatted the back of his knees so he was forced to sit.

"Op!" the big black bot protested, knowing that he would not win, he continued. "Annie's teachers don't like her, the one that did was dishonorably discharged for it as I understand. They want her to be a little lady, all pretty and not like she is. And they don't like her intellect, or creativity. Ya know how she writes?"

"Like crazy, especially for one of her age."

"They said her stories were bad because they had us in it, even though there was no violence in them, just cute little yarns about our walks in the fields and that kind of thing. It's like because she is not what they think she should be, she is a horrible person. But most of the people in that school that are what they want, are very hypocritical."

"The Christian religion is all about being good, and loving everyone, isn't it?"

"Yes, but there are so many that ain't like Will, and Sarah, and Annie, that are horrible. Then there are those that don't say anything' about anythin' in fear and then there are those who say what they have to when they have to. It confuses me."

"It confuses everyone." The Prime replied sadly, "Something else is bothering you."

"They want to put Annie on medicine that will change her to the person they want her to be, not herself"

The Prime waited for Ironhide to continue.

"That just is not right. For a nation that was based on the right to chose everything, it has fallen to a do nothing but what everybody else does nation. Where children are like energon cubes, the imperfect ones are tossed out, and the one that fit the bill are not! For a place of freedom, a lot of that freedom is bein' stolen!

An' ya can't just change a person's personality! Ya gotta love somebody for who they are, not what stranger that some medicine makes them. I understand that there are some that must have medicine to function, but from my research that medicine is far overused!

An' then they say she has too much creativity, an' imagination! How kin somebody say that a kiddo got ta much of that? Huh?!"

"Hidey-Hide, what's wrong?"

"Sweetpea, there's a lot going on." The big black bot bent down to pick her up, "Ya just gotta love yourself as who ya are, not anythin' else, ya hear me? Ya be strong, be yourself an' don't you dare give into anybody!"

"I love ya, Hidey-Hide." She planted a kiss on his cheek.

"I love ya, sweetpea."

**Don't worry, the next chapter is much lighter, and shorter. This chapter was more or less raising a voice to what I too oft see. And Hide's "be strong" quote, I mean it. **


	4. Chapter 4

**So, here's to the start of Fair, and to make up for my preachyness last chapter.**

"Are you sure she will be safe?"

"Ironhide! You're a big, old, tough weapon specialist, not a mother hen! What can you possibly be so worried about? There is no chance of 'Cons, and if they come, I am rather certain that you, Prime, and Sideswipe have it all covered." The father of a certain curly-haired wild girl whose family did not listen to certain teachers looked up at his dear friend.

"Oh, I know they won't stand a chance." The bot replied, hoping, for Annie's sake that would not be put to the test.

"Ok, so what _can_ you possibly be worried about? It ain't like were taking her to a bar late on a Friday night, it's a county fair!"

"Exactly!" Ironhide threw his hands up in the air like his wife would when she was flustered, "It's a fair!"

"So you're worried about her getting run over by a loose sheep?" Will smirked.

"Yes! Or kicked by a horse, or a cow, or pecked by a chicken, or bit by somethin'. An' then there are the rides, what if she falls, or the ride breaks an' she gets hurt or worse? What if she gets caught in the machinery or somethin'? and then I won't go into all the diseases that she could pick up 'cause I ain't no doctor!"

"Gee, hon, he's worse than you!" Sarah slapped her startle husband on the shoulder and patted the blushing Autobot's leg.

A convoy of vehicles, the first a Peterbuilt, the second was a Jaguar, and the third was a lime-green ambulance.

"You brought the medic?" Sarah blinked.

"Yes. It was unanimously decided that it would be in the best interest for both the human, and the Autobot that has a ninety percent chance of falling over in shock."

Ironhide spun around, "_Preceptor_?"

The little red Autobot smiled, "Good thing I always give you an extra 10 percent of surprising us."

"How?" The big Autobot stuttered.

"They let me off here last night. You looked right at me."

"That happens when one thinks the other a microscope so Annie could look at pond water." Ironhide growled happily, then he lifted his comrade up and gave him a bear hug that nearly dented his armor.

"Told ya it would be a good thing for him to see ya in the day. At night he's a little over-protective. Ya might have been shot." Annie giggled.

Annie smiled as she cuddled the pink panda bear toy she had won and Ratchet scanned her, Preceptor also ran a scan, then she crawled into her guardian's car seat and promptly fall asleep.

**Ok, so maybe to celebrate the end of fair as well, as I am sitting in bed the day after feeling a bit on the ill side. Short, and, I hope, sweet. I had to bring in Preceptor, G1 Preceptor, just cause he's a barrel of laughs. Now in to knitting some slippers, or at least attempting to **


End file.
